Bishop began his career as part of a standup comedy act with his elder brother, Maury. He guest-hosted on television’s Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and frequently appeared on Steve Allen’s and Jack Paar’s previous versions of The Tonight Show, both on NBC.

Joey starred in a sit-com titled The Joey Bishop Show, that ran for four seasons, first on NBC and later on CBS. He later hosted a talk show also titled The Joe Bishop Show on ABC (below) as competition to Carson’s Tonight Show. It ran for two years. His sidekick was then-newcomer Regis Philbin.